Revisión de la manija de pintura A-Case para miniaturas

Last Updated on noviembre 17, 2022 by VoltorRWH

Un caso‘s first foray away from miniature transportation solutions has birthed a particularly interesting and unique magnetic painting handle. How will this quirky and innovative product hold up under some signature FauxHammer.com hobbyist scrutiny? Read our Un caso Painting Handle for Miniatures Review to find out!

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A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review – Summary

Un caso provides a refreshing and interesting ‘spin’ on the tried-and-tested tropes of miniatures painting handles. Their 100% magnetic method will appeal to die-hard gamers who are in the business of magnetising their armies , and the modular approach to assembling the painting handle makes it accessible and ergonomic. It’s a simple yet satisfying solution to keeping your miniatures in place when painting them – and whilst it’s price errs towards the expensive end of painting handle price spectrum, it feels worth its money.

A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review – Introduction

It feels like ages since anyone’s sent us a new painting handle. I admit, this is probably because we have a bit of a habit of being quite picky about them.

Painting handles – rather like brushes – are very difficult to review. This is because they’re an integral yet very personal part of the hobby. Trying to bring an objective, reviewer’s set of eyes to a product that is going to be adored by some and hated by others for exactly the same reasons is tough. It tends to be the comments sections of our painting handles reviews that attract, shall we say, the most engaged of commenters.

However, miniatures transportation and storage solutions masters Un caso decided to take the plunge and send us one of their painting handles.

Manija de pintura A-Case para revisión de miniaturas Manija 1

It’s been a while since we’ve given a painting handle a thorough roasting an in-depth review, so we broke out some new miniatures from the Leagues of Votann army box and got cracking!

A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review – Design

One thing you need to know about Un caso is that they love magnets. For them, magnetisation is as much a part of the miniatures hobby as building, painting, and playing games with your figures.

In fact, it’s such a big deal to them, some correspondence from Un caso recently dropped into my emails contained this meme of A-Case mastermind, Aleksader.

A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review Aleksandr Meme

And, let’s be honest, they do have a point. A well-magnetized army in a magnetic case is about as safe as it gets for your miniatures. The downside with foam is that detailed thin bits – spikes and spears, for example – can get caught and break off when inserting and removing models from foam trays. With a magnetic setup, this kind of thing is unlikely to happen.

A-Case have extended this philosophy to their painting handle as well. The entire system revolves around magnets.

A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review Handle 2

Each component is topped and abutted with a magnet so each piece can be attached and detached from the other at will. It’s an ingeniously simple idea, and thanks to the strong magnets and ergonomic components, is well-executed.

The idea here is that you can add and take away as many of stackable magnetic components that you wish (within reason). This both allows you to create a painting handle to a size you desire (again, within reason) and chop and change other parts out as you go. You can’t make it too tall, though, or else the overall weight of the handle will cause the thing to topple and break apart. It’ll also become very difficult to wield if it’s really tall.

A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review Handle 3

The rough idea is that you use the larger, more rounded-edged handle as the bottom of the handle (although you don’t have to) and then build up on top of it to suit your hand size, your painting style, or your other needs. Each piece is topped with a magnet, so you can use as many or as few of the components as a handle as you desire.

The magnets also enable you to change out parts as you go, which will make switching between models really easy. There’s even an attachment for larger bases – again, that can be swapped between easily thanks to the magnetic system.

A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review Handle 4
A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review Handle 5

The parts of the handle are all 3D printed – aside from the magnets themselves (obviously). You can see some of the print lines on the images above. These aren’t particularly offensive, though, and the handle still feels very robust and sturdy to hold. It should survive the worst drops and whatever customs can throw at it (mine survived the trip from Poland completely unscathed).

Because it’s 3D-printed, the handle can also come in a selection of colours. We got ours in grey, but we could have got it in black, blue, red, green, pink, orange or yellow.

A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review – Testing

So, before you get started with the A-Case Painting Handle, you’re going to need some glue and some magnets. Luckily for you, there are additional buying options on A-Case’s website that allow you to purchase magnets and glue when you buy the handle. Just make sure you get the size most appropriate for your bases.

A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review Handle 12

Always be careful when using superglue – the stuff wants to stick your fingers together just as much as it wants to stick a magnet to the base of a miniature.

Anyway, we picked a couple of the new Leagues of Votann miniatures for this test: three Hearthkyn Warriors and the mighty Kâhl miniature. A few dots of glue later, and we were ready to go.

So, the first test: how is the handle to hold?

Well, fine. Better than fine, actually.

A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review Handle 6

As I find myself saying in these sorts of reviews (more often than I care to admit), I am quite large. Standing at 6ft 5in (196cm) tall, I am a fair bit bigger than the average person. As you may therefore expect, I have fairly large hands. I’ve learned that this can sometimes affect how easy it is for me to actually hold a painting handle. For example, I don’t get on too well with Citadel’s latest iteration.

Un caso‘s handle, however, is perfect for me. That I can add in the additional piece before attaching the part where the miniature would sit means I have just that little bit more room. My fingers fit very comfortably around the neck of the handle, and the handle has a comfortable diameter to it which fits in the hand very nicely

One of the advantages of A-Case’s system is that the sections rotate.

A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review Handle 10
A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review Handle 11

Because each part is only held in place by a magnet, you can twist and turn each one to your heart’s content. This can be used to access different parts of the miniature without having to extensively move or reposition your hand. Every time you’re having to loosen your grip to reposition your painting handle, you risk dropping it and damaging your figure, so rotating elements are welcome.

Obviously, you can’t build it upwards and upwards forever, as the overall weight of the handle will eventually cause the parts to separate and the handle to fall apart.

Por supuesto que no tengo to use each part as a longer painting handle. If you prefer it, you can use some of the smaller sections as smaller handles.

A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review Handle 9

Another advantage we found when testing the A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures was that it was very easy to swap between models. On the one hand, just removing the model by itself is easy enough. Because it’s attached magnetically, there’s no messing around with blue tac or whatever putty you’d usually use to keep your minis in place. This also means there’s no sticky residue left on the bases for you to clean up later.

A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review Handle 7
A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review Handle 8

Sin embargo, Un caso‘s model also allows you to remove the section to which the miniature is attached. By doing this (as we have in the images above, swapping our Kâhl out for one of his warriors), you lessen the risk of accidentally damaging your work-in-progress paint job. You’re not going to smear that blotch of black paint you hadn’t noticed you’d got on your finger over the section of armour you’ve been working on by accident – because by removing the magnetic section with the miniature still attached, you don’t touch the figure.

The only issue we did find, however, was pressure. If you like to rest your painting hand on a part of the handle whilst you paint, you will find that an undue amount of force will cause the different magnetic components to separate from each other. If you are particularly heavy-handed, this may not be the right handle for you.

The thing that really struck me about this handle is its versatility. It is designed with you in mind. Painting handles are a very personal part of the hobby experience, and Un caso have designed theirs to be as easy for you to use as possible – no matter what your individual requirements from a painting handle may be. That the handle essentially comes as 5 regular-sized handles is also very convenient, and plays into the overall modular design of this piece of painting equipment really well.

Will A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Improve my Hobby?

Our go-to response to this question when dealing with painting handles is as follows:

Do you currently use a painting handle? If “no”, then yes, the A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures will improve your hobby.

Here at FauxHammer.com, our general opinion regarding painting handles is that something is better than nothing. Ultimately, you want to keep your fingers off your miniature, and holding a figure by the base alone is a one-way ticket to disaster (I can’t think of the number of figures I dropped before I owned a painting handle).

Sin embargo, Un caso‘s unique magnetic setup will appeal more to a particular type of hobbyist. If you’re a fan of using magnets on your miniatures, then A-Case’s Painting Handle for Miniatures will be of unique appeal to you as it can slide seamlessly into your building and painting process.

I’ve never previously been one for magnetising, but since we did our Battle Foam – P.A.C.K. 352 Figure Case and Magna Rack Review, it’s been appealing to me more and more. Now I’ve got the A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures, though, I think my new Leagues of Votann figures will all be being magnetised.

A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review – Price and Availability

At a cost of £25.60 from their online shop, el A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures definitely errs on the more expensive side of painting handles. It’s not the most expensive one we’ve seen, but it’s also by no means the cheapest.

However – and there are some important howevers to be considered here – there are a few things to note in light of this price.

The first is the fact that the price does include worldwide shipping, which is a huge bonus. This means that no matter where you live, the price won’t change depending on your country.

The other is that the magnetic setup does mean that you are essentially getting as many as 5 regular grips for £25.60. This in turn means that, whilst the overall package may touch the expensive end of the painting handle spectrum, you are essentially getting a bundle deal with as many as 5 grips that you can use. This, then, is actually very good value.

If you’re into your magnets, this handle is a no-brainer for you. Plus, the modular, build your own, chop-and-change elements really help add to the handle’s versatility and appeal.

A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review – Final Thoughts

ProsContras
Quirky and innovative modular approach to assembly
Will strongly appeal to painters who already magnetise their miniatures
Being able to make the handle as large or as small as you need is a great feature
Towards the more expensive end of the painting handle spectrum (but also sort of not if you consider how many single painting handles you actually get)
Excess pressure on certain parts of the handle can cause parts to dislodge

There’s a lot to like here. The A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures is a wonderfully ergonomic painting handle that lovers of magnetised miniatures will adore. Its stand-out feature is its versatility: whether you want to use it as one larger painting handle, several small painting handles, or a combination of the two, the ability to swap out the magnetic parts of the handle to your heart’s content means you can paint your way.

There are a few drawbacks that relate to the magnetic elements of the design: heavy hands might cause the magnets to come unattached from each other, and you obviously can’t build it into an enormous foot-tall tower (which, I will admit, was the first thing I tried to do) as the weight of the thing will cause it to fall over.

It feels like it’s been ages since I’ve been nice about a painting handle. Maybe I’ve gone soft Maybe A-Case’s Painting Handle for Miniatures is actually just a rather nice bit of equipment. If you’re in the market for a new painting handle, give ’em a look.

**Update 17/11/2022**

We’ve just been in touch with A-Case again, and they’d like us to know that since sending us the sample we received for this review, they have upgraded the handle a little following feedback from pro painters.

A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review Update 2
A-Case Painting Handle for Miniatures Review Update 1

A-Case’s painting handles now sport a powder coat on the plates to help prevent the model slipping, and also offer a magnetic top with cork which is ideal for pinning.

These are really promising developments for this handle, and also go to show just how customer-minded the guys at A-Case are. We’re really looking forward to seeing what happens next!

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VoltorRWH

Rob has spent most of the last 20 years playing World of Warcraft and writing stories set in made-up worlds. At some point, he also managed to get a Master's degree by writing about Medieval zombies.

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